This invention relates generally to turf care equipment and more particularly concerns an improved blade for a turf spiker for aerating turf and reducing surface filming effects.
By way of background, a turf spiker is a device which creates small cross-sectional area, relatively deep holes in a turf ground surface to allow air, moisture and other elements to penetrate the ground surface. The spike holes reduce surface filming effects and stimulate the growth of desirable grasses in the turf. One of the primary uses for a turf spiker is for spiking of golf course greens.
Because of heavy demand for continuous play on golf courses, it is highly desirable to have turf care equipment which conditions the turf without substantially interfering with play. This has been a drawback of prior turf spikers. Prior art turf spikers have had what might be referred to as a star-shaped blade. The individual teeth of the blade have generally been substantially symmetrical about a line from the tooth tip to the axis of rotation of the blade. In general the leading and trailing edges of each tooth in prior art spiker blades have been straight line segments so that the portion of the blade penetrating the ground surface has been V-shaped. This type of prior art blade may be referred to for simplicity as a "straight" star-wheel blade.
In turf spiking apparatus using the straight star-wheel blade at a setting at which the blade penetrates any substantial percentage of its radius, say greater than ten percent, a great deal of dirt, turf and other materials are lifted out of the spiker hole by the spiker blade and deposited forward of the spiker hole above the existing ground surface. This leaves a ruffled, unsightly appearance on the turf, especially on golf course greens. It also renders a green spiked with such a blade annoying and almost impossible to use for its intended purpose by golfers for a substantial time period after spiking of the green with such a blade occurs.
The present invention is a spiker blade which accomplishes the important function of aerating and penetrating the ground surface but is capable of doing so without undesirable "ruffling" that is, deposit of substantial amounts of turf and dirt above the ground surface resulting from the spiking process. Thus after use of the turf spiker of the present invention for aeration of the green, the green surface has a relatively smooth, unruffled appearance which allows use of the green for putting immediately after the spiking operation has occurred.
Furthermore, prior art turf spikers using traditional spiker blade configurations may be fitted with the present invention to enable them to eliminate the substantial shortcomings of prior art devices.